For example, a hook for suspending a shopping back thereon is mounted on a side wall inside a passenger compartment or a rear face of a front seat. To mount such a part on a body panel, there is used a fastener to be inserted through a mounting hole formed in the body panel to thereby be fixed in place in the mounting hole. Incidentally, sometimes, a part such as a hook needs to be removed from a mounting hole when parts are replaced or a vehicle is serviced for maintenance, and a removable fastener is used for such an application.
As a fastener which enables a part to be fixed in a mounting hole and which can be removed therefrom, Patent Document 1 below discloses a fastener including a main body and an operating member, wherein the main body has a pair of elastic portions which are formed on a circumferential wall thereof so as to be deflected via a slit, locking projections which are provided on outer surfaces of the elastic portions so as to project thereof to thereby be brought into engagement with mounting hole, L-shaped plates which are provided on inner surfaces of the elastic portions so as to project therefrom and abutment projections which are provided so as to project from distal ends of the L-shape plates towards the elastic portions side and wherein the operating member has a head portion, a cylindrical member which is provided so as to project from a rear surface of the head portion to thereby be inserted into the main body, first stepped portions which are provided on an inner wall on a distal end side of the cylindrical member so as to be brought into engagement with the abutment projections when the operating member is pushed shallowly into the main body and second stepped portions which are provided in positions closer to a proximal end side of the inner wall of the cylindrical member than the first stepped portions and which project further inwards than the first stepped portions so as to be brought into engagement with the abutment projections when the operating member is inserted deep into the main body.
In this fastener, when the operating member is inserted shallowly into the main body, the first stepped portions at the distal end of the cylindrical member are brought into engagement with the abutment projections on the main body, whereby the operating member is held on the main body. In that condition, by the main body being inserted into a mounting hole, the locking projections on the outer surfaces of the elastic portions are brought into engagement with a rear circumferential edge of the mounting hole, whereby the fastener is fixed in the mounting hole. In this condition, when the operating member is pushed deeper into the main body, the abutment projections are disengaged from the first stepped portions and are allowed to move on the inner wall of the cylindrical member to thereby be brought into engagement with the second stepped portions, whereby the pair of elastic portions are individually deflected inwards via the L-shaped plates on the inner surfaces of the elastic portions, as a result, the locking projections on the outer surfaces of the elastic portions are disengaged from the circumferential edge of the mounting hole, whereby the fastener can be pulled out of the mounting hole to thereby be removed therefrom.
Patent Document 1: JP-UM-H02-001525-B